Europe Must Stop Deportation of Iranian Queers (Feb 25, 08)

He lived a marginalized and terrorized life as an Iranian homosexual in Iran; the burden of such a life became so strenuous that he finally left Iran for the UK with a student visa. Mehdi Kazemi is another Iranian gay refugee who left his home country with the hope of securing a more dignified life for himself in the West; and yet he is another young refugee who sees his hopes for safety and human dignity fading in the face of European governments’ lack of respect for even the most basic human rights. The European governments claim to be the champions of human rights and democracy and condemn Iran frequently for its violation of human rights; and yet they willingly pave the road for the government of Iran to go ahead with its human rights abuses, and arrest and execute an identified Iranian gay. Today, they sentence Mehdi to torture and possible death by deporting him to Iran, and tomorrow they issue statements commending this violent and unlawful act of execution.
Time after time we have read the statements of European governments against the Islamic Republic of Iran: “The Republic does not respect human rights” and yet these European powers deport Medi to the very government they criticize for violating gay rights. It must be known that such acts of deportation equally violate human rights. The UK government deports Mehdi Kazemi to Iran despite the well-known fact that there is a serious risk of his prosecution, torture and execution.
European governments in general and the UK government in particular must immediately change these oppressive anti-refugee policies and must make a serious effort in protecting the rights of human beings.

Mehdi Kazemi should not be deported back to Iran.

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Arsham Parsi
IRanian Queer Organization – IRQO
Formerly Persian Gay & Lesbian Organization – PGLO
www.irqo.net
info@irqo.net
tel: 001-416-548-4171